


The Ink on Our Skin

by TheWholeDamnTime



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-18
Updated: 2014-10-26
Packaged: 2018-02-21 16:46:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2475320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheWholeDamnTime/pseuds/TheWholeDamnTime
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Leo's recovery, Jemma decides to make up for her lack of scientific knowledge about soul marks. Based on speccygeekgrrl's "skin-deep, or deeper" series, and thanks to her for allowing me to use the idea!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [speccygeekgrrl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/speccygeekgrrl/gifts).
  * Inspired by [written, unwritten, rewritten](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2449874) by [speccygeekgrrl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/speccygeekgrrl/pseuds/speccygeekgrrl). 



Jemma sighed, twisting the knob of the microscope until the dark, pigmented cell sample came into focus. After removing a small sample of both her and Fitz’s soulmate marks (“it’ll be fine, Fitz, they grow back like any other cells”), she had been comparing them to those of her old marks and her regular skin. “So it seems as though they are all structurally the same,” she commented, letting her thought process ramble out loud, “so perhaps the reasoning comes from further within.”

“Yeah, but what if it gets down t’ the nucleic acid level?” Jemma’s brow furrowed at her partner’s words.

“Unless it’s a freakishly developed, sophisticated mutation that is nearly impossible through the natural laws of evolution and biology, it won’t. I mean, the first-ever recording of such marks was in the Viking era. In other regions at the time and previous to that, there were no such occurrences, saying that it must have cropped up during that era, in that region, and spread from there. My current hypothesis is that it’s a human-created or human-tampered disease that’s passed from mother to child, and would thus eventually spread to the entirety of the human population. That’s why Skye doesn’t have one: she’s an 0-8-4, and her parentage is most likely non-human.”

“But how would a disease get so darned specific? I mean, look. It’s even in your handwriting,” Fitz asked, tugging his shirt collar to the side to expose the first two or three words.

“I’ll get there eventually. First I have to actually _find_ it.”

* * *

 

 _Easier said than done_ , she mused as the world outside grew dark. She had gone down to a single-cell level and still wasn’t finding anything different, except for the pigment of the cells. It was as she was about to throw her hands up in frustration that she noticed something a bit… odd. For the soulmate cells, the entire cell, not only the membrane, was pigmented, indicating some form of specialized cell. _So it_ is _genetic! But how_ -

At that moment, Fitz wandered into the lab, their dinners in hand, only to be bombarded with information and speculation by his partner.

“-but how specifically this mutation must be ingrained, and to be aligned with chance like that for every single person, why, the odds are almost completely _impossible_ , because the number of subjects and the sheer quantity of variables dictates that it should be incorrect at least 1-2% of the time, and yet I’ve _never_ heard of anyone _ever_ -”

“Jemma!” His words caused her to glance up, train of thought momentarily lost. “You need to eat. You missed lunch, after all. Tell me about it over dinner.”

Fifteen minutes later, she finished explaining what she had found and the consequences and finally let herself eat while Leo mulled it over.

“So what you’re saying is that this is practically biologically impossible to have this mutation in everyone on the planet if it only originated with the Vikings and the variations are too perfect for it to be a natural thing?”

“Exactly. I’ve never heard of someone’s soulmark being incorrect, and the odds of that-”

“-are astronomically small. You should have Skye search the internet, but neither have I.”

“It’s almost certainly impossible.”

“Then what-”

“-is causing it? I have no idea. No technology could have kick started it, they were still telling myths and worshipping…” Her voice trailed off and a frozen moment passed, almost comical in the way they were statue-still. Fitzsimmons simultaneously turned to each other.

“…gods,” they finished in unison.

There was a moment of wide-eyed silence. Then both sprung up, spouting off overlapping and interwoven theories so fast it simply sounded like a blur to anyone listening. Words toppled over words and the volume increased to shouting over one and other with excitement. For fifteen minutes the rambling continued, but eventually they stopped, breathless, grinning at the breakthrough.

After a few seconds of silent congratulations, passed through glances and slight movements of the corners of the lips, Jemma brushed out of the room, leaving a kiss on Fitz’s cheek and the words “I’ll go tell Skye.”

* * *

 

Two hours later, Skye wandered into the room and set down her laptop. “You guys have to be right. There are no anomalies or incorrect words anywhere on the internet, not even parody or fake accounts. And take a look at this,” she added, spinning around the screen so that a intense-looking woman stared them down from the screen.

“Jane Foster, astrophysicist, works as an ally to S.H.I.E.L.D. She found Thor,” supplied Simmons.

“Right. And this…” trailed the hacker, clicking couple buttons. An intricate tattoo laced her skin, a dark black that only ever showed up in soulmate marks. “…is quite the sight.” Jemma stepped closer to the screen, fingers reaching out and lightly tracing the design.

“Looks like the symbols on the Berserker staff,” commented Fitz. “Asguardian.”

“It says on here that Thor translated for her. It’s the first words he spoke to her, and he has Midguardian writing on his body.” Skye grinned at them.

“The Asguardians have soulmarks, too!” gasped the biochemist. “This completely supports the theory that this came from the Asguardians, and-”

“-these can be interconnected!” added her partner. “Then maybe it was a gift-”

“-or interconnected DNA, or maybe a cross-breeding-”

“-or even-” Skye raised her hands to cut off Fitzsimmons, but only after she started waving them around did they trail off their rambling.

“You’ll never guess who’s on earth,” she said with a grin.


	2. Chapter 2

Lady Sif bent over the microscope and furrowed her brow.

"I had forgotten how primitive you Midguardians remain." With that, she picked up the slide and held it to the light. Black-stained cells stared back and she held what looked like the eyepiece of a spyglass up to it. They watched as the tiny screen zoomed in, moving from a regular view to a per-cell view within seconds, retaining clarity the whole time. And suddenly they were staring at a thread of deoxyribonucleic acid. Jemma sucked in a breath in awe and practically felt the awe radiating from Leo. As the warrior moved down the strand, she visibly tensed, even taking a step back in shock.

"You said this occurrence popped up when?"

"Some point in the Viking era," Simmons replied, brow furrowing slightly at her urgency. "Probably around the same time your people showed themselves to ours." 

"And you do not know where this came from? Or its form?" The questions seemed to throw the biochemist for a loop.

"... No.... I mean, we suspect it’s a mutation in the DNA, based on the specialized cells, and we guessed it was Asguardian because of the time period, but beyond that..."

"This is not right…” she murmured in an almost fascinated horror, not removing her eyes from the specimen before her. “This is most disturbing. My King must hear about this, immediately.” Lady Sif spun around and affixed her intense gaze upon them. “Once I send the message, I will explain. Excuse me.”

* * *

 

It was encroaching on late evening and Fitzsimmons were curled up together on the couch, Leo with a book propped open and Jemma with her head on his lap, eyes closed and a small smile playing across her lips as his moved with the words. “’Don't talk to me.’,” he said, mimicking Ron’s voice. "’Why not?’" the engineer continued, switching between voices with ease. “‘Because I want to fix that in my memory for ever. Draco Malfoy, the amazing bouncing ferret...’” Simmons’s light giggle bubbled up to meet him as he spoke the words, and he tore his eyes from the text to look at her. Her hair was splayed around her head and beautiful brown eyes reflected back up at him. He sighed and put the book to the side.

“Have I told you yet today that you’re beautiful?” She grinned and sat up, spinning around so that her bent knees arched over his lap and her cheek brushed his shoulder.

“I’m pretty sure that’s not the next line, you cheeky boy,” she teased, leaning forward and kissing him on the cheek. He smiled and was about to make a witty retort when Lady Sif walked into the room, purpose in her stride. As she saw the two, though, her gaze softened and her stance eased slightly.

“I presume you two are connected by Marks of the Soul’s Partner?” Leo’s brow scrunched for a moment but Jemma just nodded, a red flush darkening her cheeks. “You show it.” This caused both of the scientists to glow with embarrassment, but the Asguardian simply continued, “I would like to brief your team in your meeting room.” Simmons nodded and pulled herself off of her partner. As she and Fitz stood and walked towards the meeting room, Lady Sif watched them leave, sadness tinting her eyes.

She missed that closeness.

* * *

 

“Asguardians have had these for as long as our history books tell. We have found a select strand of our DNA that is the cause for the mutated genes. It is a more complex science than you Midguardians have mastered and attempting to explain it may take years, so I will gloss over it as what you would call ‘magic’. Is this acceptable?” There was a bit of grumbling from the resident scientists, but they nodded along with Coulson. “See, just before we approached your peoples for the first time, we had two of our people found experimenting on what they believed to be lesser creatures. These varied from creatures on our own planet to those in other solar systems, and even those in other galaxies.” There was a pause. “It has been speculation to have included Midguardians.” There was a general nod around the group. “Before we could reprimand the pair, they vanished. I believe that they must have come here and continued their experiments once we left.” There was a quick hush over the room. “We believe that they are still here.” The silence stayed.

“Wait- here’s what I want to know.” interjected Skye. “What on earth did they do that was so evil? I mean, now we have soulmate marks. So what? We have lovely little phrases that tell us when we’ve met the right person.” Glancing back at everyone’s stares, she shrugged, then continued, “What? Am I wrong?” All eyes turned to Lady Sif.

“Yes, indeed. The experiments were not limited to the Marks of the Soul’s Partner. They included Asguardian diseases, such as the things you call the Black Plague and polio, and multiple mutations. Many of your ‘gifted’ are the effects of their experimentation.”

“Oh.”

“We do, however, now have a lead. The two who escaped were Rán and Snotra, and due to your approximations, we know they are centered somewhere near your ancient Viking civilizations. The former is a lady of the seas, known for theft. She especially enjoys shimmering objects. Snotra, on the other hand, was our bookkeeper and a scientist, one of our most clever. Thus, we should be able to narrow down a place where they may be centered and look for activity.” With that, she turned to Coulson, eyes blazing.

“I have been ordered by my King to hunt them down and return to Asguard with them. Would you and your team be willing to be of assistance?” The team watched as their leader’s seemed to stiffen for a second, then a pinch appeared in his brow.

“I’ll talk to Hand, see if she can take us off duty for now. I’ll have your answer within the hour.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sif's missing the closeness of a relationship is a reference to her dead partner, as hinted in "Yes Men".

**Author's Note:**

> I honestly have no idea how long this will take or how long the story will be, but i can promise there will be more chapters! Please tell me what you've thought so far or any ideas you have for this- I'd love to hear them and may even incorporate them :D Thanks for reading!


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